Commission de récuperation artistique (CRA)

Description

The Commission for the Recovery of Art (CRA) is a French public agency under the Ministry of National Education. It was established in November 1944 with the purpose of investigating works of art that had been looted by the Nazis and the Vichy regime. Initially, the commission was located at 20 bis Avenue Rapp, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, where there was an annex of the Louvre Museum. The role played by Rose Valland, curator of the Jeu de Paume museum, was decisive, as she recorded the movements of the works confiscated by the Nazis that passed through the institution (Augereau, 1997). The Commission de récuperation artistique remained active until 1949, and it is estimated that approximately 61,233 objects were returned to France, with more than 45,000 being restored to their rightful owners (Bouchoux, 2013).

Bibliography

• AUGEREAU, François (1997): "L’action de Rose Valland", en Pillages et restitutions. Le destin des œuvres d’art sorties de France pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, Adam Biro, París.
• BOUCHOUX, Corinne (2013): “Si les tableaux pouvaient parler…”. Le traitement politique et médiatique des retours d’oeuvres d’art pillées et spoliées par les nazis (France 1945-2008), Presses universitaires de Rennes, Rennes, pp. 49-58.
• LE MASNE DE CHERMONT, Isabelle y SIGAL-KLAGSBALD, Laurence (2008): À qui appartenaient ces tableaux ? La politique française de recherche de provenance, de garde et de restitution des œuvres pillées durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme, París.
• LISKENNE, Anne (2012): "Autour des restitutions des biens culturels de 1944 à nos jours", en  Saisies, spoliations d’archives, de bibliothèques et logiques de restitution au XXe siècle, Presses universitaires de Rennes, Rennes.